High Speed Car example essay topic

The intricacies that are involved in turning a regular car into a "Street Racer" are many; and racers pour their souls into these magnificent machines. After seeing "the Fast and the Furious" many people have or wanted to become involved in street racing. They do not realize that this is a sport that takes knowledge, hard work, and nerve. Many of these racers have spent their lives under a car, learning the trade and improving upon it. As I have learned, this is not just a hobby; it is a way of life. This lifestyle does carry a price, racers face persecution from police and the general public.

They have their cars impounded and defaced by those who reject racing. Having a racer is not illegal, but some of the things people do with them are. This is what the general public does not understand. The IRA is a legal racing circuit that embraces Street Racers. It gives the much-needed outlet to build magnificent cars and race them legally. Police are not the only worry on a racers mind.

Death, fraud, and theft are the dark side of this moon. Some racers lack legitimate funds for equipment, and they resort to theft and fraud. This is where the misconceptions of the general public resonate. Yes there is crime; and laws are broken, but in everything there is a good and bad.

So I warn anyone who pursues this life, enjoy the good, and be ready for the bad. What drives these racers to this lifestyle? They have an addiction to speed. The six-cylinder engine fuels this "need for speed". Some may think that their two hundred thousand dollar car is fast, with these engine modifications will have an Accord blowing the doors off a Ferrari. The six-cylinder engine has six pistons pumping in six cylinders; hence, the name.

Fuel is injected and burned; causing gas compression (picture a shaken soda bottle). This compression forces the pistons up and down that move your car. With compression in the cylinder, the Turbo comes into play. If two balloons were filled with air, one half and the other full, which would go faster?

This is the job of the Turbo. Burning requires air, and when you introduce more air a fire is larger and hotter. It forces compressed air into the engine, letting it burn more air each time the pistons pump increasing boost. There is a drawback to more air, more heat in the engine. Heat in the engine makes the air denser, causing a loss in compression. The Air Intake solves this problem.

It sucks in cold air and pumps it into the engine, making the air less dense and letting the turbo do its job. As you drive, air rushes past your car. It hits the front of your car and the intake, and this cold air is forced to the engine. As a combination, the turbo and intake greatly improve power and speed. I said earlier that the engine burns fuel and air to cause compression.

With a high-burning gas injected into the engine, you gain instant horsepower. Nitrous Oxide is a gas that burns hotter and faster than regular fuel. When it is directly injected into the cylinder, it burns at a greater rate to the fuel, increasing speed greatly. Through a switch on the wheel, a driver engages a certain amount of NOS from a tank in his car.

Through a nozzle, the driver decides how much gas he wants then the burst is pressed. With this high-powered gas, too much can literally burn so hot that it melts your engine. These drivers take the risk of wanting too much speed and blowing their engine apart. A NOS boost can shake the welds off the engine and the driver out of the car; this is why it's a blessing and a curse. If a driver wants to be safe in a high-speed car that has NOS and other modifications, they need protection.

Also many gauges that tell them what's going on in their car. Safety is a major concern for these racers, so they make a number of safety enhancing modifications. Racing seats have shoulder straps that hold the driver snugly to the seat. A crash at these speeds can rip a person apart if they are not harnessed in and racers have learned this the hard way. After watching their friends fold like paper, they adopted these seats. They also conform to a driver's body eliminating slide in turns.

They do not want to be moving around their seat at one hundred and forty miles an hour. If a racer is safe and comfortable, they race all the better. Many racers fear for their safety, but some speed addicts worry about their engines more than themselves. Remember that I said too much NOS boost or turbo can blow out an engine, the gauges in the car eliminate this "racers nightmare".

The gauges / timers tell your car how much compression or boost you want in your car, fitting it to your needs. If you have a turbo, the timer tells your turbo how much compressed air you want each time the piston pumps. If you have to little boost you loose speed, and too much can blow the turbo apart. NOS is also a dangerous thing; without a gauge telling it how much to add, it can melt your pistons. NOS comes in two shots, fifty and one hundred. The Gauge lets you choose how much you want each shot.

Without this regulation of these performance-enhancing parts, they would be dangerous and almost useless. They would do more harm than good, in racers eyes. Now that the technical part of the interior is done, time to make the interior compliment your beautiful car. Have you ever seen a car with an eerie neon glow and wonder what it was?

It is something called "ground effects". They are neon lights hooked onto the bottom and the windows of a car. They are essentially long black light bulbs that emit this glow. Many racers also love chrome. Chrome shifters and pedals make their car shine like a prism in the sun. These are flashy, eye-catching modifications, but some of the interior modifications are not meant to be seen.

Yes NOS is legal, but some racers do not like the unwanted attention it brings. If an officer notices it, you may be followed and hassled due to the stigma attached to all racing. Also, other racers may not choose to race you if you have a hundred shot in your back seat 1, so they have some innovative hiding places. Racers have hollowed out passenger seats and hidden floorboards. "The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist". 2 If you think the interior is hot, listen to these body modifications.

Side skirts of a normal car are high; with lower side skirts you gain style and most of all speed. This is the same with extended rear and front bumpers. Air rushes under and to the side of your car, and extended parts make it more aerodynamic giving it less resistance and letting you go faster. They also give a superficial value; they make the car look sporty and sleek.

These parts come in all makes and sizes, letting you adjust them to your style. Fog lamps and halogen bulbs are very popular on these accessories. They do not help in performance, but attitude is half the battle. The spoiler is not just a useless accessory; it helps the cars aerodynamics. As wind rushes past and under the spoiler, it pushes the back of the car down adding traction and power 3. If the back of the car is lifting it gains wind resistance and slows, this is how the spoiler helps.

To add more push to the back of the car, the angle and height of the spoiler is increased. This is why some normal cars have little spoiler for show and racers use them for performance. There is a problem to adding all of these parts to a car, weight. As I have said the racers have adapted to this problem. They have lightened their cars by using carbon-fiber parts. 4 They are strong and half as light at metal, so racers can add these parts and not get dragged down... literally.

A warning to those who read this, do not get dragged down into the dark side of racing. Racing on streets is dangerous. If you enhance a car like this, it should be raced only on a legal strip. A ten-second rush is not worth killing yourself or others. Work hard and be fair. If you do this you will always win.

I hope to have helped any curious person who wanted to know how people make these racers. I wanted to dispel the stereotypes of racers and their lifestyle. Yes, some of this lifestyle is dark; but most racers are kids who love cars. They whole-heartedly adopt the dogma that, "Nothing else matters, and for those ten seconds or less... they " re free". 5.